Sanctuary of Rome's 'Founder' Revealed

Yahoo! News (AP) ^ | 11/20/2007 | Ariel David

[Pyro7480]

ROME - Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled an underground grotto believed to have been revered by ancient Romans as the place where a wolf nursed the city's legendary founder Romulus and his twin brother Remus.

Decorated with seashells and colored marble, the vaulted sanctuary is buried 52 feet inside the Palatine hill, the palatial center of power in imperial Rome, the archaeologists said at a news conference.

In the past two years, experts have been probing the space with endoscopes and laser scanners, fearing that the fragile grotto, already partially caved-in, would not survive a full-scale dig, said Giorgio Croci, an engineer who worked on the site.

The archaeologists are convinced that they have found the place of worship where Romans believed a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the god of war Mars who were abandoned in a basket and left adrift on the Tiber.

Thanks to the wolf, a symbol of Rome to this day, the twins survived, and Romulus founded the city, becoming its first king after killing Remus in a power struggle.

Ancient texts say the grotto known as the "Lupercale"_ from "lupa," Latin for she-wolf — was near the palace of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, who was said to have restored it, and was decorated with a white eagle.

That symbol of the Roman Empire was found atop the sanctuary's vault, which lies just below the ruins of the palace built by Augustus, said Irene Iacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine and the nearby Roman Forum.

Augustus, who ruled from the late 1st century B.C. to his death in the year 14, was keen on being close to the places of Rome's mythical foundation and used the city's religious traditions to bolster his hold on power, Iacopi said.

"The Lupercale must have had an important role in Augustus' policies," she said. "He saw himself as a new Romulus."

Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University and an expert on the Palatine, said the grotto is almost certainly the "Lupercale."

"The chances that it's not are minimal," said Carandini, who did not take part in the dig. "It's one of the greatest discoveries ever made."

Most of the sanctuary is filled with earth, but laser scans allowed experts to estimate that the circular structure has a height of 26 feet and a diameter of 24 feet, Croci said.

Archaeologists at the news conference were divided on how to gain access to the "Lupercale."

Iacopi said a new dig would start soon to find the grotto's original entrance at the bottom of the hill. Carandini suggested enlarging the hole at the top through which probes have been lowered so far, saying that burrowing at the base of the hill could disturb the foundations of other ruins.

The Palatine is honeycombed with palaces and other ancient monuments, from the 8th-century B.C. remains of Rome's first fledgling huts to a medieval fortress and Renaissance villas. But the remains are fragile and plagued by collapses, leaving more than half of the hill, including Augustus' palace, closed to the public.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said the first area to benefit from an extensive, $17.5 million restoration of the hills' ruins will be Augustus' palace, scheduled to reopen in February after being closed for decades.

[Pyro7480]

This photo made available by the Italian Culture Ministry during a press conference in Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, shows an underground grotto believed to have been worshipped by ancient Romans as the place where a wolf nursed the city's legendary founder Romulus and his twin brother Remus. Decorated with seashells and colored marble, the vaulted sanctuary lies buried 16 meters (52 feet) inside the Palatine hill, the palatial center of power in imperial Rome. (AP Photo/Italian Culture Ministry, HO)

[Pyro7480]

GGG ping!

[Red Badger]

Ping!............

[blam]

Thanks. (Bump)

[Sacajaweau]

Very cool...

[Greg F]

Awesome discovery. I credit the Romulus and Remus legend a little more now that I saw a show on Discovery (I think) about a Russian boy that was an orphan and lived with dogs on the street.

[lilylangtree]

Fascinating.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Pyro: Thanks for posting this.

My only ‘Humm’ on this is that I was under the impression that this was a fictional story.

So are they saying this is NOT fiction?

Or that this is the REAL location of a fictional event?

[af_vet_rr]

Very cool indeed. It’s amazing how much has survived until now.

[LexBaird]

Romulus

Remus

[Pyro7480]

It’s where the ancient Roman believed the legend took place.

[RosieCotton]

OK, I admit, I laughed.

But seriously, interesting article! Thanks for posting.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

We were in Rome this summer and the Palatine hill was one of our favorite places--we went twice, in fact. It's basically a park full of wildflowers and ruins and amazingly uncrowded, compared to the other sights. Hot tip: the same ticket gets you into the adjacent Colosseum, but there's no line to buy it at the Palatine hill. Get your ticket there, see the sights, then cruise past the long ticket line at the Colosseum.

[Andyman]

Thanks for the tip, Mr. Steves.

[mickey finn]

I was in Rome last Christmas and Palatine Hill was also our favorite place. Went twice and could have gone again. This find is very important!

[Proverbs 3-5]

How long before the Muslims come in and blow it up like they destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001...

[jalisco555]

Great story, thanks for posting it. I read somewhere that in old Latin the word for female wolf was similar to a slang term for prostitute and that maybe the legend of the twins being nursed by a she-wolf was a distortion of the fact that their mother was a prostitute. Which implies that there was an historical Romulus and Remus, of course.

[jalisco555]

I was in Rome last Christmas and Palatine Hill was also our favorite place. Went twice and could have gone again. This find is very important!

Yeah, it's terrific, isn't it. Just a fascinating place. Did you get to go to Torre Argentina? It's the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated and is now a cat sanctuary. Literally hundreds of cats live there, right where Caesar fell.

[purpleraine]

Thanx. I remember the Palatine from our trip.

It's a good thing the other brother didn't win, we'd be calling it Remu.

[IronJack]

I always considered it fortuitous that Romulus won the combat with his brother. I can’t conceive much reverence for the “glories of ancient Reme.”